State of the Union/Rubio's Response

Pretty hum-drum SOTU address last night. I would even say that it was a bit boring. At the end, I thought the President hit a pretty strong chord when he pushed for votes on gun legislation, but otherwise I thought it was pretty much standard fare with little in terms of new legislation or policy.

The highlight of the night was really from Marco Rubio who delivered the Republican response. Goodness, the guy has a huge audience that he can introduce himself to and he looks totally uncomfortable and his whole tone was ridiculously combative. The combination made him look like a panicky angry dude.

From a content perspective, I thought it was odd that he talked about government policies that helped his family (Medicare for his dying father and ailing mother, government loans so he could go to college, etc.) and then basically talked about the need to cut back on government policies. However, it wasn't the bad/inconsistent content that he delivered that was as much the problem as his weird hand gestures and struggles to keep from sweating. His pause to lean over and grab a bottle of water was particularly strange. It was like a bad SNL skit - which I am sure will happen this week.

In the end, he really botched an opportunity to look presidential. He kept wiping his forehead and lips and looked really uncomfortable. Then when he reached for the bottle of water. I laughed out loud as if it was a skit. I'm not sure if it will make all that much difference in the long run, but it was a pathetic effort to exude confidence and look like a leader.

Conservative vs. Republican

There is little question that President Bush was a Republican who abandoned many aspects of conservatism (NCLB, Medicare Part D, and worldwide interventions are primary examples). When the standard bearer of the Republican Party is not conservative, it creates a lot of confusion. I also think it gave rise to the radical tea party movement that tried to lurch the Republican Party back toward conservatism in its own way. The end result is a Party that really does not know what to project or what to believe in.

This weekend I was at a dinner party and got into a pretty good political discussion with someone who claims to be conservative, but no longer identified with the Republican Party. This person is well educated and is a fairly rich, high priced consultant working for a major firm in the DC area. I was struck by how defensive he was and how much he wanted to avoid being labeled a Republican. His problem was mostly the anti-science and hyper-Christian conservatism that have hi-jacked the Party, but he also complained about the failure to maintain economic discipline during the Bush years. He clearly disliked the President's policies but seemed exasperated that there was no credible Republican leadership at the federal level.

As we continued our discussion - which was friendly even as we conflicted - he seemed surprised that the federal budget deficit had shrunk under the President. It may very well be the case that the deficit is cut by a half trillion dollars from where it was when the President took office. We shifted to Obamacare and when I asked him what he didn't like, he couldn't really give anything of substance. He then argued that employers should not be required to pay for health care for employees, but argued that individuals should just pay into a federal system (i.e., single-payer) to get health care like they do in Canada and Europe. When I mentioned that this was not a conservative view, we decided to move on to dinner and the conversation just ended.

The two points I will make about this whole conversation is that (1) this individual completely dislikes the Republican Party, and (2) doesn't even know basics about major policy initiatives. This is how many Americans are, which is why you need to have clear, consistent ideas and steady leadership in order to make progress. The Republican Party needs to establish what it wants to do and who will lead them, otherwise they will continue to just twist in the wind.

RepubliCANTs

There continues to be ridiculous opposition of the President by Republicans. Senator Lindsay Graham wants to hold up perfectly qualified candidates for the CIA and Defense Department because he is still unsatisfied about Benghazi. There is little question that they would be approved, but Graham wants to cause trouble.

Senator Bob Corker is starting to question the legality of drone attacks. I don't necessarily disagree that we need better oversight - especially when Americans are targeted. But, what bothers me is that Corker and his Republican friends had no trouble with this during the Bush years.

Representative Eric Cantor went on Meet the Press yesterday and hammered the Obama Administration for wanted to raise taxes. A couple of days earlier he seemed to be more conciliatory and even seemed open to working with the President, but he fell back into his same pit bull mentality with largely useless/baseless Republican talking points.

Until the Republican Party can lay out a real agenda and get serious about governing without all the bluster and the attempts to score political points, they will remain a Party in decline.

Couple of Economic Thoughts

So, the economy (GDP) shrank by 0.1 percent in Q4 of 2012. This is a bad sign, but it is completely understandable with the Super Storm Sandy, the threat of major cuts in government spending through the sequester, and the Republican obstructionism that continues.

The private sector grew significantly, but government spending and contractor spending took a nose dive as agencies and private firms that work for the government (particularly in the defense industry) started cutting back significantly to prepare for the automatic cuts that Congress enacted as part of the sequester deal. With government spending shrinking so significantly and the major disruption in business activity in New Jersey/New York, we saw a flat economy.

The markets did not collapse as a result of the surprise contraction in the economy, so it was not completely unexpected.

Today, we saw another 157,000 jobs created with fairly strong private sector growth. Unemployment ticked up to 7.9 percent so that means more people are returning to the job market. Anemic numbers, but coming on the heels of the GDP figure, I would say it was a pretty solid employment report today.

If we are really looking to improve job creation and jump start economic growth, the government needs to increase spending - preferably on construction projects which impact labor, manufacturing operations, and the transportation/logistics industry. We would also get physical assets (i.e., buildings, schools, roads, bridges) that would last for years and pay for themselves over time.

If Republicans would just get out of the way they wouldn't continue to harm the economy by creating economic crisis after crisis.

Republicans Talking a Good Game

In recent weeks, leading Republican politicians have tried talking a good game. They talk about giving people ideas and appealing to women, minorities, and immigrants. The problem is that they do not really offer any specifics and they remain held back by the tea party type nuts who remain obstinate.

It is odd, because there are some steps toward consensus building, but then Paul Ryan will blast the President for nothing on the Sunday talk shows. John Boehner actually said that the President wants to destroy the Republican Party. These guys just don't get it - they need ideas and substance, not petty whining.

In Virginia, Republican state senators snuck a re-districting map of the State's districts through on Inauguration day because one of the State's black lawmakers was attending the President's Inauguration. This allowed them to sneak the map through with a 20-19 vote. The Republican lieutenant governor had already nixed the idea because it was ridiculously bad, and he refused to agree to break the tie in favor of Republicans. The Republican governor has openly come out against it. In addition, Republican senators want to change how the State's Electoral College votes are divided. Instead of winner take all they wanted to divide them by districts and then give the two additional votes to the winner of the greatest number of districts - not based on the popular vote. This makes no sense whatsoever unless you are trying to make sure that Republicans get more EC votes in the short term. Again, the Governor thinks it is inane (which it is). Instead of working on ideas, many Republican state senators in Virginia just want to change the rules. It may help them in the short term, but it is almost surely going to continue to hurt them over the longer term

President Obama on Football

The President was asked by The New Republic about football. He commented on the violence of the game and the fact that he would "have to think long and hard" about it. I say good for him and I totally agree.

I was a pretty good high school football player, and I enjoyed playing. But I had my share of injuries, including stingers where my arm went numb and I played through. I never suffered a concussion, but am sure I played with concussed players. I still have knee, back, and neck issues as a result of playing. Fortunately, I was a starting player who played for a winning team - but most players aren't as fortunate.

As much as I love football, and as much as I enjoyed my high school experience, I don't want my son to play. I won't prevent him from playing high school football if he wants to and he is good enough to make the team, but I am not going to sign him up for youth football and I will actively discourage him from playing. Too much risk in my opinion.

Pro Bowl Nonsense

I watched a few plays of the Pro Bowl last night and found it to be pretty much unwatchable. There is no reason to even have a Pro Bowl. Guys don't want to get hurt and everything moves at half speed most of the time. It is foolish to even call it a football game.

The NFL should reward players as Pro Bowlers - and I don't really care if they leave the system as is - and give them a check/bonus. Don't worry about playing football. Then, instead of a football game they could have a series of competitions (40 yard dash, weight lifting, obstacle course, etc.) and make it interesting. I don't know if people would really watch, but I know I would be more interested.

Ravens and 49er Coaching Thoughts . . .

with a little sprinkling of thoughts about the Bears mixed in.

I like the matchup and am looking forward to the Harbaugh Bowl. I love the Ravens - next to the Bears they are my favorite team. I like their style of play with a focus on D and the running game. I also think Flacco is a very good player.

I want to point out a couple of things about the Ravens. They really scratched their way into the playoffs. They lost 4 of 5 down the stretch and finished 10-6. They lost big in the middle of the year to Houston 43-13. Those kind of numbers might have gotten John Harbaugh fired in Chicago, but because of the division the Ravens played in it was good enough to win. The Bears had a very similar season as the Ravens, but ended up short - that is the way it goes sometimes.

The 49ers went 3-2 down the stretch with a loss to St. Louis and a thumping by Seattle 42-13. Big losses happen in the NFL and teams recover.

I think the big thing that happened for both teams was that both coaches really went unconventional and made big changes during the season. The 49ers changed QBs and it certainly looks like a good move now. I think Alex Smith can play and will start again in the NFL. I expect him to end up in Cleveland with Norv Turner, but Colin K is Jim Harbaugh's guy. In Baltimore, there was some friction between Flacco and Ray Rice and Cam Cameron. The team was doing OK offensively - it was the defense that was really letting them down - but John Harbaugh fired Cameron and went with Jim Caldwell. Another big gamble that paid off for them.

What I like about these moves is that they were gamble for teams that wanted to find a way to break through to a higher level. Both ended up working out. I am hopeful that the Bears decision to be a little more bold will end up pushing them higher.

Clinton on Benghazi

So the Secretary of State testified before a Senate panel today. I didn't see the testimony but read her explanations and about the points where she became combative. In response to Republican Senator Ron Johnson she said,

“With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest? Or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they’d go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make” Clinton scolded Johnson, raising her voice. “It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator.”

That pretty much sums up what I think about Benghazi. The Republicans want to try to pin blame and argue that the President and the Secretary of State willfully did something wrong. The fact is that bad stuff happens and processes sometimes need improvement. I have no issue with having hearings, but the political grandstanding is annoying. Until I see something to say that there was willful negligence, I don't think it serves any purpose to just whine and complain as Republicans have been doing.

In the end, the American people won't care, just as they didn't really care about Iran-Contra - and that was a far more substantive and sinister story of government intrigue and over-reach.

President's Agenda

President Obama gave a great speech that tapped into liberal/progressive American values. There are a lot of Republican/conservative critics who are complaining that the President did not reach out to them. That is utter nonsense. First, these Republicans are the same ones who have been obstructionists for everything in the first term. These are the same ones who argued that their singular goal was to make President Obama a one term President. Guys like Paul Ryan were plotting a strategy for how to obstruct the President on the day of President Obama's first inauguration.

Republicans moan and whine about the President not working with them, when it is clear they have no intention of working with the President.

The President laid out a very clearly different agenda for the country than the Republicans 5 years ago and he won the election. He has governed for 4 years in a way that has been very different than the policies of Republicans and he has a far higher approval rating than Republicans. He laid out a completely different vision than Mitt Romney and he trounced Romney to get re-elected to his second term. When will Republicans get the fact that their policies are not wanted by the majority of Americans!

I'm glad President Obama was forceful in his defense of his policies and laid out a muscular agenda for his second term that is very different than what Republicans want. Without the concern for re-election, President Obama is free to push for the policies that he has advocated for in his campaign. We will be better as a country for it. The economy is far improved from where it was 4 years ago. The deficit is shrinking - not expanding as Republicans want people to believe. Employment is improving. After 8 years of President Obama we will be in a far better place than when we started. That will be his lasting legacy.

Inauguration Day

My family and I went down to DC for Inauguration. We stayed off the Mall - there were literally hundreds of thousands of people and I don't like being in that big a crowd. We saw those types of crowds last time and when Stewart/Colbert did their Rally a couple of years ago. Instead, we got bleacher seats on Pennsylvania Avenue on the parade route (at a substantial fee). We got to listen to the speeches and platform party remarks and we got to enjoy what turned out to be a pretty good day.

It is interesting being there for real American history being made. I wasn't really keen on going down - I was fine watching it on TV. But, I have to say that I did enjoy being there live. We were sitting at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue. The White House is at 1600 Pennsylvania, so we were pretty close to the end of the parade route. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the President walking in front of us. He got out of his limo and walked about 5 blocks before our spot and then about 2 blocks after us. We did see him in his limo with the Secret Service all around, but I would have loved to have seen him walking. Can't have everything I guess.

Security was thorough but easy enough to get through. We only had to wait about 10 minutes in line to get in. I think part of it was the fact that we paid good money to be where we were. The snipers and spotters on top of buildings were everywhere. My kids really found that part of the security system fascinating. There were a couple of high rise hotels that were around our bleacher area, so it looked like they were pretty busy watching for suspicious activity. I'm sure the proximity to so many hotel rooms overlooking the parade route was a big reason the President didn't get out near us.

The thing I will say is that being in DC today, one could really see how much love this President has. It was a great, diverse crowd of Americans having a good time and being witnesses to history.

Bears Defense to Change

Coach Trestman is coming in and hopefully will do something with the offense. Apparently, the defensive coordinator will change. Rod Marinelli will be moving on. It is disappointing that a 10 win team with great special teams and a great defense will have an all new staff. Hopefully this is going to work out.

I am disappointed in the coaching changes that appear to be coming. I wait and see who the coaches are before making a final judgement.